A Living Brick that Supports Building Structure and Plant Life

Two students experimented with a mixture of soil and cement trying to create a brick that would be strong enough to keep its form, but also be porous enough to support plant life. Their idea, dubbed the ‘Earth Bank Living Wall System’, was recently installed on a shipping container at the Eugene Federal Courthouse Garden. The 3-inch thick wall was pre-planted with sedums with the goal of seeing whether or not the seeds would be able to germinate on the vertical concrete/soil environment. To date sedums and succulents are thriving and courthouse visitors and employees are pleased to have this new bit of beautiful greenery.